Already inspecting before cleaning!

The bottlers of returnable PET are familiar with this: non-brand, distorted, defective or closed bottles can cause malfunctions and standstills in the washing machine. Heavily soiled and contaminated cases are not cleaned sufficiently there. The complete cleaning performance is at stake if they contain oil or varnish residue. An innovative solution based on the highly automated HEUFT SPECTRUM ^II platform is the answer.

It checks the presence and amount of residual liquid in the returning PET bottles using a special infrared inspection module before the washing process. Severely misshapen empty containers are detected by means of ultrasound. The camera based sidewall inspection carries out the continuous inspection of the bottle contour just as reliably as the verification of imprints, label remains and embossing. It can even determine the colour of the residual liquid which may be present clearly in addition to foreign objects and heavy soiling. All the containers in question are rejected in good time. This not only safeguards the top quality of the empty bottle pool but also full line efficiency and productivity when filling returnable PET containers.